ZOBOASTRIANISM,	3  205
later writings in the Pehlvi language, as of Ms tion by his mother drinking a cup of the sacred Homa, but these are of no authority and form no part of the religion. On the contrary, the original scriptures which profess to record his exact words and precepts disclaim all pretension to divine nature or miraculous power3 and base the claims of the * excellent religion s purely on reason. This is an immense advantage in the c struggle for life/ when every day is making It more impossible for educated men to believe that real miracles ever actually occurred, and when the evidence on which they were accepted is crumbling to pieces under the light of critical enquiry. The Parsee has no reason to tremble for his faith if a Galileo invents the telescope or a Newton discovers the law of gravity. He has no occasion to argue for Noah's deluge, or for the order of Creation described in Genesis. Nay even, he may remain undisturbed by that latest and most fatal discovery that man has existed on the earth for untold ages, and, instead of falling from a high estate, has risen continuously by slow and painful progress from the rudest origins. How many orthodox Christians can say the same, or deny that their faith in their sacred books and venerable traditions has been rudely shaken ?
The code of morality enjoined by the Zoroastrian religion is as pure as its theory is perfect. Dr. Haug enumerates the following sins denounced by its code, and considered as such by the present Parsees : Murder, infanticide, poisoning, adultery on the part of men as well as women, sorcery, sodomy, • cheating in weight and measure, breach of promise whether made to a Zoroastrian or non- Zoroastrian, telling Ufes and deceiv-